Toy



C. W. MELVIN May 9, 1961 TOY Filed March 3, 1958 INVENTOR. CHARLES W.MELVIN FIG- ATTORNEYS This invention relates to a toy and moreparticularly to, a toy for use with a flying kite which utilizes astring attached parachute easily pulls it up the kite string by a windwhich is 'sufficient to fly the kite. The carriage traversing carriageand a releasable parachute which may.

be repeatedly used without lowering the kite.

The't'oyiof the present invention includes a kite string mountablecarriage to which maybe attached a small light weight, toy parachute.-The carriage, which oper-' ates as a small tramway, isfreely reciprocalon the kite string, and wind pushing against the billowed canopy of anattached "parachute pulls the carriage up the kite string toward theflying kite. A trigger mechanism is provided-on the kite string'sothatat. apredetermined point the parach u'te is released permitting it tofloat back to the earth. The carriage, by its own weight, slides backdown the kite string.

It is an important object of the invention to provide a toy for use witha flying kitewhich transports a toy parachute to a-predetermined heighton the kite string and releases the parachute at that point permittingthe parachute to float to the earth. j

It"-isanother"object of the invention to providea kite string mountabletoy which may be mounted on and dismounted from a kite string withoutlowering the flying kite.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a toy which maybe repeatedly used on a flying kite without lowering the kite foroperation of the toy.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a toy including areleasable parachute which is arranged for attachment to a flying kiteand which is wind raisable to a predetermined position on the kitestring and then after releasing a parachute returns a portion of the toyto the holder of the kite string.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention may be readilyascertained by referring to the following description and appendedillustrations in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a toy according to the invention mountedon the string of a flying kite;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed view of a toy according to the inventionimmediately prior to the release of a releasable parachute;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a carriage according to theinvention in parachute carrying position;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plane view of a toy parachute carriage according tothe invention, illustrating the parachute release position;

Fig. 5 is a top plane view of a parachute carrying carriage showing thestring mounting holders;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a modified carriage mounted on astring; and,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a trigger stop for a releasableparachute carriage according to the invention.

In the device illustrated, a body or carriage 1 is arranged with loopsor string mounts 2 positioned adjacent the ends of the body forsupporting it on a kite string 3. The body 1 may be'of wood, plastic,light metal, or the like, and should be light enough that an should beheavy enough so that it will slide back'down' the string against afairly strong wind after release of the parachute. The loops forsupporting the carriage or body on the string should have large enoughholes to be freely slidable on a kite string. The device illustrated inFig.5 includes a plastic body, 1 having pushed outyintegral' portions 2which have large openings 4 on each end tom ing a loop. The edges of theopenings should be smooth so that'the string .3 freely runs throughthe'loops 2. Diagonal slits, 5 extending from the opening on side to.the opening on the other side are provided on the loops so that themiddle of the string may be threaded on the carriage withoutthreadingthe end of the string through the loops. In this manner the carriage maybe mounted,

i on 'a string with the kite inthe air. Obviously, the diagonal openingsmust be at such' an angle to prevent the string from accidentallyslipping out through the opening.

A parachute holder is mounted on the body 1 and it consists of a Wiretrigger portion 10 which includes a guide 11. The guide is a looselycoiled end of the wire Y 10 opposite the coil 11 has a reverse bend 12ending in V a short leg13. Guidej loops 14 and 15 hold the trigger 10 inposition on the carriage. The guide loops are made in a manner similarto the string loops, illustrated in Fig. 5, by pressing the plastic ormetal out from the body and cutting holes in the ends to form the loop.The trigger is freely reciprocal in the guides 14 and 15,

and a stop 16 is positioned to limit travel of the trigger.

The stop 16 may merely be a hump pushed out of the body, or anattachment secured to the body. The short leg 13 is freely reciprocalthrough another pair of loops 17 and 18. The end 19 of the leg 13 justprotrudes from the loop 18 when the trigger is against the stop 16 (openor parachute release position), and is telescoped within the guide 17when the trigger is full forward in parachute holding position,indicated by the dashed lines 19.

The parachute portion of the toy, Fig. 2, includes-a loop or ring 20which fits over the short leg 13 and held thereon when thetrigger ispushed forward with the end 19 telescoped in the guide 17. A weight 21is attached to the loop, and a canopy 22 is attached by means of shrouds23 to the weight or weight holding harness which is secured to theweight.

A stop or trigger release for the toy includes, Fig. 7, a rectangularportion 30 having two holes 31 and 32 extending through the mid portionof the body. A diagonal slit 33 extends from the hole 31 to the edge ofthe body, and a diagonal slit 34 extends from the hole 32 to theopposite side of the body 30. The diagonal slits areat an angle to thestring position, which is on a line from center to center of the holes.The release may be attached to the kite string by passing the stringthrough the two slots into the holes and allowing the string to assumeits natural position. If a tighter hold on the string is required, thestring may be merely looped through the slots again forming a looparound the body securely holding it in any position on the line.

In using the toy of the invention, the release 30 is placed on thestring at a point near the kite, preferably, however, at a suflicientdistance to prevent entanglement of the dropped parachute with the kiteor kite tail, thus a distance of eight or ten feet is usuallysatisfactory. The kite K, Fig. l, is then flown in conventional mannerto the desired height. The carriage 1 is then placed on the string withthe guide 11 also encircling the string as illustrated in Fig. 3. Theparachute holder is opened.

by pushing the trigger back against the stop 16. By holding the loop 20of the parachute in between the guides 17 and 18, the trigger is pulledforward trapping the loop on the short leg 13 between the guides 17 and18. The canopy 22 of the parachute is then permitted to billow in thewind, and on releasing the carriage the parachute pulls the carriage upalong the kite string. When the coil 11 strikes the stop 30 the triggeris moved'rearwardly against the stop 16 releasing the parachute to floatto the earth, and the carriage slides back down the string to theoperator. The parachute is retrieved, and it may then be reattached andthe procedure started all over again. Several parachutes may, obviously,be used at the discretion of the user,'and it is preferable to utilizebrightly colored, light weight silk for the canopy, since it provides aneasily seen parachute. The light weight silk billows effectively underlight wind conditions pulling the carriage upto the release.

The modified carriage illustrated in Fig. 6 includes a body portion 40having wire loops 41 in position to encircle the string and hold thebody on a string. The loops may be secured in any desired way onto thebody as by threading, nuts, welding, etc., and they may be made of anydesired material which may be metal or plastic or the like, which isstrong enough to support the body and to provide large loops for freemovement of the carriage along the string. The trigger mechanism may bemounted in loops punched from the body, or it may be mounted in loopssimilar to the string holding loops 41.

While the invention has been illustrated With reference to specificembodiment, there is no; intent to limit the spirit or scope of theinvention to precise details so set forth except insofar as defined inthe following claim.

I claim:

A kite string supported toy of the class described integral loops formedby bulging out portions of said carriage and both extending outwardlyfrom one surface thereof in position to suspend said carriage inbalanced condition from a kite string, there being string accommodatingdiagonal slits through the top of each said loop to permit entry of akite string into said loops and reciprocably suspend said carriage froma kite string, a series of integral trigger holding loops formed bybulging out additional portions of the carriage and extending outwardlyfrom the oppositesurface of said carriage formwardly in relation to saidcarriage, a parachute inclusive of an open canopy and attached harnessshrouds, a ring secured to said harness shrouds and engageable with saidring retainer to be 'releasably held therein maintaining.

the canopy open to billow with the wind and pull the carriage along thekite string, two of said trigger loops being adjacent and spaced toaccommodate said ring therebetween in position to support said reversebend portion for releasably holding said ring, and a trigger releasemounted at a predetermined point on the kite string to engage the coiledend of thetrigger.

References Cited in the file' of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,746,157

Johnson Feb. 4, 1930 1,844,594 Peterson Feb. 9, 1932- 2,471,199 Coyne eta1. May 24, 1949- 2,689,699 Sanders Sept. 21, 1954, 2,750,136 StrackeJune 12,1956 2,900,648

Hedlund et a1 Aug. 25, 1959

